Alleged NSW terror plot 'involved IED'

Two men charged over an alleged terror plot in Sydney will go straight to trial after waiving their right to a committal hearing.

Two men arrested in anti-terror raids and accused of plotting to detonate an improvised bomb in Sydney have waived their right to a pre-trial committal hearing.

Mohammad Kiad, 26, and Omar Al-Kutobi, 25, will be tried later this year on one count of conspiring to do acts in preparation or planning for a terrorist act.

But police have dropped a second charge of doing acts in preparation for a terrorist act.

The two former housemates were arrested in February 2015 after raids by counter-terrorism police, who allegedly discovered a machete, a hunting knife and a homemade Islamic State flag in the men's Fairfield home in western Sydney.

Court documents state the plan involved "an action or a threat of action involving the detonation of an improvised explosive device and/or incendiary weapon, and/or the use of a bladed weapon".

The documents allege the plot was intended to advance a "political, religious or ideological cause" and intimidate the public.

Kiad and Al-Kutobi, who are both in jail, appeared on screen on Wednesday sporting beards.

Al-Kutobi has grown his hair down past his shoulders.

They are expected to be arraigned in Sydney District Court on February 26.


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Source: AAP



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